Current News & Events

RON GARL HAS DESIGNED AFRICA’S LARGEST GOLF ACADEMY!

Ron Garl has designed Africa’s largest golf academy! Ron Garl has just returned from a trip to Nador, Morocco where he met with members of the Hassan II Golf Federation about the Grand Opening of the Golf D’Atalayoun Golf Academy in Nador, Morocco.

Africa’s largest golf academy at Golf D’Atalayoun (which sits directly on the Mediterranean Sea) will be celebrating their grand opening in the spring of 2013. Attendance at the Grand Opening will include his Excellency The Prince Moulay Rachid.

The Golf Academy is part of a world class golf course project with the King of Morocco at the Royal Palace on the Mediterranean Sea.

Components of the Golf Academy include:

The Ron Garl Scoring “V” emphasizes short game strategy. Here the player can practice wedge shots from 50 to 100 yards, in 10 yard increments, thus developing feel and muscle memory for various lengths of wedge shots.

The Compass Rose resembles a sailor’s compass with a green set in the middle and hitting stations surrounding the green in a 360 degree perimeter. It is designed for practicing chip shots of 50 yards or less. As the player works his way around the green he practices a variety of shots.

The Sandbox is designed specifically to improve your sand game. It has multiple bunkers at different depths and sand types to practice any sand shot you encounter during a round of golf.

The Practice Diamond is a facility to hone your approach and chip shots from 50 yards or closer.

In addition to the short game practice components, Golf D’Atalayoun has a dual ended mega practice range with target greens at varying lengths and multiple putting greens.

Ron Garl and his team continue to be the world leader in practice academies around the world. Renovated or improved practice facilities have proven to be the #1 way to get new members to your course.

Let us put our experience to work for you!

Ron Garl & Manuel Villegas Wins “Scratch” Nationwide Pro Am in Bogota, Colombia, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia (February 20, 2012) — Ron Garl has just returned from Bogota, Colombia, where he played with Manuel Villegas in the Nationwide Tour’s Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship Pro Am held at the Country Club de Bogota.

The Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship tournament is the opener for the 2012 Nationwide PGA Tour season.

Also playing in the Pro Am was President Bill Clinton. President Clinton played in the afternoon wave of the Pro Am along with Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos (forming a rare political golf team), and two of Ron Garl’s good friends – Jose Francisco Arata, the president and executive director of Pacific Rubiales Energy, the tournament sponsor and German Calle, Jr., President of Sport Link and the tournament director. Also playing in the group was Nationwide Tour player D.J. Brigman. Brigman was chosen to join Clinton’s group last Friday because of his status as the chairman of the Nationwide Tour Player Advisory Council.

Clinton is the first former or current U.S. president to attend or play in a Nationwide Tour event or in South America.

President Clinton’s group teed off on Hole #1, while Ron Garl and Manuel Villegas were teeing off beside them on Hole #10.

The defending champion of the Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship tournament was Brendan Pappas. It is a small world…Pappas played and practiced at Golden Ocala, a Ron Garl golf design.

Skip Kendall rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win this year’s Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship.

Ron Garl, a big fan of Colombia, was in the country to work on Guaymaral Country Club and his new golf design, Mar de Indias, in Cartagena, Colombia, on the Caribbean coast.

Ron Garl Golf Design is a worldwide leader in golf course design in Central and South America!

With one course renovation already completed in Colombia, Guaymaral Country Club – Course #1, hosted the Colombian Open in 2010 and in March 2011 hosted the Pacific Colombia Tour, a joint venture between the Canadian Tour and the Latin America Tour, the renovation has been so successful that they have retained us to work on Course #2.

We have also designed a new golf course in Cartagena, Mar de Indias. which is a new 18-hole residential golf course with ocean views.

Ron Garl Golf Design has achieved design success in Panama as well.

Bijao Golf Course, just outside of Panama City, Panama is on the Pacific Ocean and is part of a residential community developed by Grupo Provivienda, the largest developer in Panama. Since Bijao opened in April 2010, Bijao has sold 62% of all the units sold on the Pacific Ocean in Panama.

Hato Viejo, just outside of Panama City, Panama is currently in the design stage and will be a residential golf course with mega practice academy.

Golf and its traditions have stood alone in the face of the high technological world in which we live. Golf course architects have strived to maintain the legacy and heritage of the game and continue to find ways to wed these traditions with the digitized, electronic, fast-paced, modern world. Through these traditions we have proven time and time again that factors such as value, quality, tradition and excellent service...
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Few decisions will impact the quality of a project as much as the selection of the design team. In my opening paragraphs on "Site Selection" I discussed the importance of selecting an appropriate project site and suggested various methods, including retaining design professionals. To obtain the best site...one capable of producing a quality golf course and enviable lifestyle for your market...
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For his design expertise, Ron has received numerous design accolades throughout his career including being awarded ‘Golf Designer of the Year’ by International Network of Golf. His educational background, a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida, with a specialization in turf grasses, has made him a leading authority in the golf industry. Ron was chosen to receive the University of Florida’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2003. Read More..